Archive for April 14th, 2011

Actress Janet Leigh (above) is most noted for her film role as Marion Crane in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 thriller “Psycho”. She died in 2004 at the age of 77 and now her former home in Beverly Hills (below) is on the real estate market with a $4.5 million price tag.

Country music singer and songwriter Loretta Lynn has written over 160 songs songs and released 70 albums. She has had ten Number 1 albums and sixteen Number 1 singles on the country charts. Lynn has won dozens of awards from many different institutions, including four Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, eight BMI awards, and ten Academy of Country Music awards. In 1972, Lynn was the first woman named "Entertainer of the Year" by the Country Music Association, and is one of six women to have received CMA’s highest award. She was named "Artist of the Decade" for the 1970s by the Academy of Country Music. Lynn was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1999. Lynn is ranked 65th on VH1’s 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll. Loretta Lynn continues to be one of the most successful vocalists of all time.

Packy is an Asian elephant at the Oregon Zoo in Portland, famous for being the first elephant born in the Western Hemisphere in almost 45 years. Currently, he is the tallest and oldest, male Asian elephant in the United States, and perhaps one of the tallest worldwide. Packy’s mother, Belle, came from Thailand and died on April 22, 1997 and his father, Thonglaw, was born in Cambodia and died on November 25, 1974. He sired 14 calves besides Packy.

"33⅓ Revolutions Per Monkee" is the name of a rarely-seen TV special starring The Monkees that aired on NBC. Produced by Jack Good, creator of the television series Shindig!, musical guests on the show included Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, and Little Richard in musical performances. Although they were billed as musical guests, Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger, alongside their then-backing band The Trinity, found themselves playing a prominent role; in fact, it can be argued that the special focused more on the guest stars (specifically, Auger and Driscoll) than The Monkees themselves. This special is notable as The Monkees’ final performance as a quartet until 1986, as Peter Tork left the group at the end of the special’s production.